


Half Man, Half Beast

by rcwiggins



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Animal Traits, G/T, Gardens & Gardening, Giant/Tiny, Half Octopus, Half Spider, Half human half animal, Half-Human, M/M, half snake
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19828747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcwiggins/pseuds/rcwiggins
Summary: “What? What’s wrong?”“It- He is like you. And Remus.”





	1. The Discovery

Janus continued to slither around through the bushes while his roommates, Patton, Roman, and Logan, were nearby tending to the plants. He had to tilt his head as he continued moving through the shrubs that towered over him like a forest, with one hand out to catch him if he fell, and another on his sewing needle, which was still firmly in place on his back.

He enjoyed slithering through the bushes, but Patton wanted to make sure he was safe at all times, so he was only allowed out if someone was with him. Janus didn’t blame him, of course, but it could be a bit annoying at times.

“Janus!” he hears Roman call, sounding close to him, “Where are you?”

Slithering out from the bushes, Janus had to squint in the sudden light and, when his good eye had adjusted, he slithered over to where he saw Roman crouching over a sea of flower pots, peering through the large gaps between the pots.

“Jan?”

“I’m right here, Roman,” he calls up to the man. Roman startles, then looks down at the half-snake.

“Oh!” Roman lowers a hand down to Janus, who then climbs into it. Before the hand gets to far off the ground, he wraps his tail around Roman’s arm. “You need to stay closer to us, Jan! What if something bad were to happen to you?”

“I doubt anything would happen, mostly because of the high fence surrounding the yard.”

Roman crosses one arm over his chest, “That doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt! You could fall from somewhere high or an animal could-”

A shrill shriek sounds from inside the greenhouse, “Spider!”

Roman and Janus both share a look before Roman rushes over to the greenhouse. Just before entering, Roman grabs the flyswatter off of a hook near the greenhouse door. With Dee in one hand and the swatter in the other, they both entered the greenhouse.

Once inside, they both hurried over to where Patton was frozen in fear, and saw a spider crawling on a small table that was covered in trowels and gardening gloves. Roman looks down at it and raises the flyswatter. Logan walks in just before Roman starts to lower it, “Wait! Do not kill it!” Logan rushes over, jar in hand, and slammed it on top of the spider. “You should not kill a bug for simply existing. It was not going to hurt anybody.”

Grabbing a sheet of paper off of a hanging clipboard nearby, Logan slides it under the jar and lifts it up to eye level. Looking in, he sees what was unexpected. Another man, like Remus and Dee, who disguised himself with a hood. Logan almost dropped the jar with the revelation.

“What?” Janus asks, “What’s wrong?”

“It- He is like you. And Remus.”

“Wait, what! Show me.” Dee demands as he unwraps from Roman’s arm, anxious to be put down. When he is, Logan puts the jar back down and releases the spider-man, who quickly backs himself up to the wall, trembling.

“Are you with them?” the man hisses, gesturing to the humans behind Janus.

Janus reaches out one hand to the man, “I am, but I can assure you that they will not hurt you.”

“Yeah, sure, and I’m half bird.”

“Look, I’m not the only one here. There is another, and-”

“Oh fuck, they collect us? I knew I never should have come here, I knew it!”

“It’s not like that, they care for us and treat us like people, not like pets!”

“No, your wrong. Ever heard of stockholm syndrome? That’s all this is,” the man says, placing his hands on the wall. He then hoists himself onto the wall, and starts to cling to it with only his feet. Patton whimpers from behind Janus.

“Wait, do not leave,” Logan calls, causing the man to stumble, “We really do want to help you and keep you safe.”

The spider-man looks to the tall human, shaking, and near whispers, “Please, don’t hurt me.”

Logan extends a hand to the wall, just under the man who scuttles away at first, but slowly he moves up to the hand and, cautiously, steps onto it. His other hand goes to Dee, who gratefully slithers on and wraps around Logan’s wrist. “Let’s get you both inside.” The spider-man looks ready to collapse just from being on the hand of a human, his knees buckling beneath him. “Do not worry. We will only be a little longer.”

Pushing the door open with his foot, Logan walks into the living room.

Remus swims up to the top of his fish tank, “Hey guys! Who’s the spider?”

Logan places Jan and the spider down at the same table as the aquarium, “He has not told us his name yet.” Janus moves towards the spider and protectively curls himself around the man. He then starts to examine him, looking for bruises, cuts, or broken bones on the man. At first glance, nothing looks wrong with the man, but the next look over shows that one of the man's legs is fractured in the middle.

“Logan, can you grab a bandage?”

“What happened?”

“His leg is jacked up. We need to make sure it sets properly.”

“You aren’t doing anything to me,” the man shouts trying to back away. He almost trips over Janus’s tail. “Let me go.”

“Which leg is it?” Logan asked, ignoring the man.

janus points to the middle-right leg, which Logan moves closer to inspect. He holds it still between his thumb and index finger, trying to be gentle. The spider hisses, both at the sudden touch and a bolt of pain that shoots through his body.

“It will be okay. Just stay off of it while I grab a bandage.” Logan says as he releases the man’s leg.

As he walks away, Remus looks down at the spider, “So do you have a name? Or should we call you ‘Spider’ for the rest of your life?”

“Wouldn’t you want to know.” the man says as he tries to scuttle over Janus’s tail.

Janus grabs a hold of the man’s shoulders, keeping him in place, “Logan told you not to put weight on that leg, you know.”

“I need to leave.”

“And we need to help you get better, so we have a conflict in interests. Remus, what do you think?”

“Well, it’s not like they’ll kill you if you try and run, so you should be fine!” Remus jokes, looking down at the man for a reaction.

Before he can get one, however, Logan enters the room with a wrapped-up band-aid and kneels next to the table. “Can you come over here?” The spider stumbles forward, eyes wide as he hunches over. “My you lift up the injured leg? It would be helpful to me.” The man lifts up the leg, almost stumbling over. Logan catches him before he does, then props the leg up on a small cotton ball. After unwrapping the band-aid, Logan gently places it on the fracture, then wraps it around the leg.

Once the man takes his leg off of the cotton ball, he tries to move around on the table, but has difficulty properly lifting the leg up to be able to walk properly. Janus keeps him from falling over again and tells him, “You should stay off that leg for awhile. It needs to heal.” The spider just silently nods, eyes glued to the tabletop.

“Do you have a name we can call you by?” Logan asks, backing away from the table.

The man looks up slowly, then whispers, “Virgil.”


	2. The Heart

Virgil was unable to sleep during the night. The humans had created a makeshift shelter for him, but it was cramped. Virgil had to hunch over, which is uncommon, as he has a petite frame, even for... people like him. He wasn't sure if there was a name for them. It's not like they are widely known. 

All Virgil wanted to do was leave, but he felt like the eyes of the humans were always on him, holding him in place. That and the jar. Virgil thinks that this was the same one as earlier. Now, though, it had a lid on the top that had some air holes poked through it. He didn't realize how cramped it was before, but man was it small. What Virgil wouldn't give to be free again. He thinks back to what the octopus-man, Remus, Virgil thinks, said.

" _Well, it’s not like they’ll kill you if you try and run, so you should be fine!”_ Was that a covert way of telling him the truth? A way to tell him to watch out? Stay or die. Were those Virgil's only two options? Though, it's not like he could run even if he weren't in the jar or didn't have the threat of death lingering over him. Looking down at his broken leg, Virgil sighs. He can hardly move without pain jolting through it. Virgil can't remember the last time he was able to walk without pain or a limp. Maybe if he had been faster they wouldn't have caught him. If only.

Virgil can see the sun starting to rise through the window nearby. The sounds of birds filter in from the outside, their chirps only a grim reminder of the freedom that Virgil lost. Sure, they might have attacked him, but even then he could have escaped. Birds are dumb. Humans are not.

A few more minutes pass by where Virgil was left alone to his thoughts, up until he can hear as someone begins to walk down the stairs. He quickly sits up, only to bang his head on the lid of the jar. Hunching down again, Virgil waits to see who comes down the stairs. A second or so pass until he sees the human who discovered him. The man looks around the room up until his eyes land on Virgil. The man gasps, seemingly afraid, until he remembers that Virgil isn't a spider, or not fully a spider. He walks over to the table that Virgil’s jar is on, and sits down in one of the chairs across from Virgil.

"Hey, kiddo. I don't know if Logan told you yesterday, but my name is Patton," the man, Patton, says, "Jan told me that you were scared, but I just wanted to tell you that we won't hurt you!"

Of course he would be saying that, wouldn't he? Virgil looks at Patton, who is leaning away, clearly uncomfortable, and then points to the lid of the jar. It takes Patton a few seconds to understand what Virgil was trying to say, but when he understands, he shakes his head, "Kiddo, I don't know if this counts as rude, but I'm arachnophobic. I really would, but I'm really afraid of spiders." Virgil hunches in on himself, knowing that this wouldn't be good for him. Any aggression from Patton would go right to him now. All Virgil does in response is nod his head.

"But, hey! I'll bring you into the kitchen and we can make breakfast together, right?" Patton asks. Virgil looks around, avoiding eye contact, then nods, knowing that this is what the human wants to hear. “Yay! This will be fun!” Patton squeals, jumping out of his seat. He then hastily picks up the jar, shaking Virgil around in the process, and speeds into the kitchen. It is much faster then Virgil had ever moved before. Almost as soon as he was picked up, the jar was placed down on a kitchen countertop.

Patton hurries around the room, gathering supplies from all around the kitchen. When he finally has everything together, Patton explains what he is doing. “I was thinking scrambled eggs would be nice today. I should probably also make some toast, too.” Patton glances up from his work, now stirring the eggs with some cheese in a measuring cup, and looks at Virgil. Realizing that Patton is waiting for an answer, Virgil gives a small thumbs up, not really having process what the human had said. However, the human smiles, then returns to his work, humming a small song while stirring.

A few minutes later, Virgil hears the telltale sounds of another human walking down the stairs, these footsteps lighter then Patton’s had been. Virgil is unable to see who it is, but Patton must have been able to, as he calls, “Hey, Logan! Did you sleep well last night?”

“I slept well, Patton. Thank you for asking.” Virgil hears the footsteps draw closer, then enters the man who had captured him the previous night. The man looks down at the jar, a hint of surprise on his face. “Patton, why is he still in the jar? Shouldn’t you have taken him out?”

“I probably should have, but I wanted someone else down here as well.” Patton explains, plating the food.

Logan nods, “Alright then. I will move him over near Janus and Remus for now. I think it will be good for him, given his current situation.”

“Cool! Just bring them out when Roman comes down. We’ll all eat then!” Logan nods again as he carefully picks up the glass jar, and, moving much slower than Patton did, walks into the living room. He then places the jar down gently onto the same table as the previous day, where his leg was bandaged. Logan opens the jar, helps Virgil out, and walks out of the room, waving behind himself. On that table there is a terrarium and a fish tank, both of which have people moving around inside.

Remus swims to the top of the tank and surfaces, “Good morning! Happy to see you still alive, good job!” Remus says to Virgil, a wicked smile on his face. Virgil wonders how many others had died by the hands of the humans he was trapped by.

“Remus, don’t act like that.” Janus says, slithering on a wooden plank inside the terrarium. Virgil notes that it leads up out of the lid, meaning that the humans were kind enough to allow Dee free range. “You’re safe here, Virgil. They won’t hurt you.”

All Virgil does to respond is nod, feeling too tired to properly respond. He hazily questions why until he looks up to see a heat lamp high above him, shining brightly over the table. It feels like heaven after the sleepless night he had, but he still fights to stay awake, afraid of what the humans will do to him if they find him asleep, especially if they found him asleep in a place he wasn’t supposed to be.

“-you okay?” one of the men ask Virgil, snapping him out of his daze. Looking back to Dee, who is now on the top of the terrarium, Virgil silently nods his head, hoping that he interpreted the question properly. Janus then slithers down a second wooden plank on the outside of the terrarium and moves up to Virgil, who tries to scuttle back, only to trip over his bandaged leg. Hurrying over to him, Janus examines Virgil, only to notice the bags under the man’s eyes.

“How long did you sleep last night?” he questions.

Remus overhears the conversation and chimes in, “Oh, you’re in trouble!”

Trying to ignore Remus, Virgil responds, “I didn’t really get that much sleep last night. Or any. At all.”

Janus looks down at the shorter man, then says, “We are getting you to sleep right now.”

“But-”

“Right now.” he reiterates, grabbing the short man’s hand and attempting to lead him up the wooden ramp. Virgil consistently stumbles over his bandaged leg until Janus lifts the man up around the waist, which was surprisingly easy to do. He noted how light the man was, knowing that it was unnatural, even for a man who was half spider. Once they are both inside the terrarium, he carried Virgil into a small cave that Roman had crafted for him. Inside of it is a small blanket, made for Janus to sleep on. Today it would serve a similar purpose, but instead of him sleeping on it, Virgil would be the one to use it. After placing the man down on top of the blankets, he stays with him until he falls asleep.


	3. The Sand

_¿Donde estoy?_

Remus forced his head to lift up and looked out at the vast expanse of sand in front of him, like an endless sand dune. Had he really done it? Had he really escaped?

The land was mostly empty, barren of other creatures, including, thankfully, humans. Remus took a shuddering breath of the all-too-dry air and wondered how humans could even breath it in. Craning his neck, he looks behind him as a small wave washes over his tentacles. The wet sand pulls him down, trying to catch him in its clutches. 

Reaching for a patch of harder sand, Remus digs his fingers in and pulls his body up, the damp sand sticking to his arms. 

Lying down on the solid sand, he shudders. The earth rumbles beneath him, like an earthquake. He never used to have many worries about them in the water, he could just swim out further if a tsunami formed, but on land? Remus chose not to let the thought develop any further. 

The ground went from rumbling to quaking as the sun set over the horizon and three sets of feet came into view, slowly strolling down the sand. With a jolt of fear, Remus realizes what they are.

Human.

The creature begins trembling, trying to push himself back into the ocean. He never should have left the pod. He never should have been so ignorant. He never should have complied with _him._

But if he can escape again now, then he’ll never have to worry again. 

He scrambles back, letting himself slip into the wet sand, when one notices him. Moving closer, the human cocks it’s head, as if it needed multiple angles to confirm what he saw. He touches one of the other two’s shoulders and points directly to Remus.

With both of them now alerted to his presence Remus stops. There was no way out. He tried so hard to get away from the humans the first time. _He can’t do it again!_ Trembling uncontrollably, he waits for the humans to walk up to him. It wasn’t long until their shadows were cast over the small man, like the blue whale that soared over his pod, granting them it’s protection. He wasn’t at all protected now.

He was the whales’ prey. 

A shudder ran down his spine as the first human to notice him kneels beside him, reaching out a tanned hand, before suddenly stopping and pulling it back to his side.

“Hey there.” the human says, keeping his voice low. It felt like it was vibrating through the ground. “You don’t need to be afraid of us. We’ve seen another like you before. It’ll all be okay.” Remus couldn’t understand a word.

Clouds flood Remus’s vision, like a haze over the desert. “ _Yo..._ ” he keeps his eyes pointed down, keeping them trained on his lower body, “ _Yo no confío en tí.”_ He tries so hard to keep his voice level, and hopes that one of them knows what he is saying.

The one that had just spoken perks up, “ _¿Hablas español también?_ ”

“ _Si. Solo puedo hablar español._ ”

The bilingual man turns to his companions, “He can only speak Spanish.” The others both nod in understanding. Turning back to the other man in front of him, he asks, “ _Bien, pero ¿por qué no confías en nosotros?_ ”

“ _¡No puedo confiar en uno de tú!_ ”

“ _¿Por qué? No te hemos lastimado, ¿verdad?_ ” The man almost looks offended. Almost.

“ _Pero lo harás! ¡Sé lo que la gente como tú le hace a la gente como yo!_ ” Remus frantically shouts, trying again to get to the ocean. His breathing is labored in the dry air. He isn’t sure if he can stay out of the water for much longer.

The man’s hand scoops up behind him, forcing Remus to sit up and look into his dark brown eyes. “ _No creo que nos conozcas en absoluto,_ ” the human brushes a strand of hair out of his face as his two companions finally kneel down beside him, “ _O sabrías que no todos somos malos._ ”

Remus frantically shakes his head and feebly attempts to get away from the men towering over him. “¡ _No me importa! Yo solo… ¡Plaese no me deja morir!_ ” 

“Oh! Roman! You’re scaring him!” one in light blue shorts says, his curly hair falling over his eyes. 

“It’s alright Patton. I think I’m getting through to him,” the human looks back at Remus, presumably to address him, “ _¿Qué? ¿Por qué te dejaríamos morir?_ ” Realizing his mistake, Remus slaps a hand over his mouth. There is no way he’s going to tell these humans about this, even as he feels his body giving in to the heat of the setting sun. The human presses on, even after the clear refusal, “ _Si no nos lo dice, no podemos ayudarlo._ ”

Remus’s head is swimming as he makes one last futile attempt to pull himself over the human’s hand. His upper body is strong, but his lower body could only hand limply below him, and that combined with dehydration was a bad match-up. He falls over, hitting his head against the rock-hard sand below him.

“Oh, wow! Uh… _¿estás bien?_ ”

“That didn’t look good…” the third says above him adjusting… something that rests on the bridge of his nose.

“ _Yo… yo necesito estar en el agua. Si no lo soy, moriré._ ” Remus explains, propping himself up on his elbows. His breath comes in shallow gasps and the world seems to be spinning underneath him.

“Oh… oh!” Roman sits up, startling the two others. “Uh… Patton, grab the pail you were using earlier and fill it with saltwater. Logan, get out one of the water bottles from your bag and give him some.” Both of them go to do as they are told, Patton wading in the water and Logan unscrewing a bottle. When he gets it open, Logan helps to prop the man up and allows the lip of the bottle to touch the sand, some of it spilling out. 

The small half-human cups his trembling hands in the water, trying to get as much water as he could. Now thinking about it, his entirety was trembling, as if he was being pushed around by an ocean current. Pulling his hands back out, he raised them to his mouth, taking small sips. It was… different then what he was used to. Almost tasteless. Nothing like the saltwater that he was used to. It only gave him a slight relief, though. Barely measurable. 

What really helped was the bucket of water. It was a small red pail filled nearly to the brim with saltwater. The stout man set it down on the shore, right beside Remus, and reach a hand down to grab him, before pulling back.

“How should I do this?” he mutters under his breath. Looking to the two other humans for help, the bilingual man translates.

“ _¿Cómo debería recogerte Patton?_ ” he asks, gesturing to the man with the pail. Remus holds out his hands, one in a loose fist and the other cupped under the fist with the palm facing up. The pale man nods and wraps his first hand around the man from under the arms. He then starts to lift him up, supporting the creature’s lower body with his other hand. Keeping his movements slow, he edges the small man closer to the pail, inch by inch. Remus stays limp, trying not to agitate the human too much. 

The hand is soon carefully moved out from under him, and he feels the touch of the cool ocean water. Remus gasps then begins trying to push away from the hand, eager to slip into the water. The human giggles and slightly speeds up his pace until he was able to safely be let go. The half-octopus almost immediately ducks his head into the water, swimming down as deep as he can.

The bucket begins to tilt as he feels a sharp jerk upwards that splashes some of the water over the side. The shadow of two hands engulf the sides of the pail, keeping most of the dim red light from coming in. Only thin cracks and the open-top are available for the light to pass in. He swims closer to the opening, curious as to what is happening. As he gets closer, muffled words become closer to audible, indistinguishable from the sloshing water above him.

When he breaches the surface, the bite of the cooling air chills him. Again, Remus has to adjust himself to the dry air, now without fear of dehydration. Pulling himself over the lip of the bucket, he peers down. The ground looks like it is miles below him, as if he had been thrown into the air. Letting himself slide back into the water, he listens to what the humans are saying, even if he can't understand it.

“We’re only a block away, right?” the short one asks, holding the Spanish-speaker’s hand. Remus thinks this one had been called Patton.

The one holding Patton’s hand responded, “Yeah, just one more.” Turning to the one holding the bucket, he continues, “Logan, when we get home, can you drive to the store and grab some supplies to get the old fish tank back into working condition?”

The human holding the bucket, Logan, Remus guesses, nods his head, “Of course. Where will you both keep him while you wait?”

“Probably still in there,” the man says with a gesture to the pail. He then notices the man inside. “ _¡Hola! ¿Cómo está?_ ”

“ _¿A dónde vamos todos?_ ” Remus questions, ignoring the previous question.

“ _A nuestra casa._ ” the human gestures to his companions, then points to a building that they are almost in front of. The humans cross a black, cracked stone pathway to get to the front entrance. 

Remus remains silent after that, releasing his hands from the pail’s lip. He watches as the two humans release their hands to unlock the door. It opens with a creak as Patton steps in and flicks his hand against the wall, causing the room to light up. Dropping a cluster of jiggling metal into a bowl, he holds open the door while the two other humans pass the bucket between themselves. The man who had been holding it then walks back outside, dusting off the sand still left on him.

The man now holding the bucket, the one who Remus still does not know the name of, walks through the doorway and puts the bucket down on a small table in the entryway, the same one where to bowl is. Remus waits for the human to walk away before poking his head out of the top again. The air above was far cooler than it had been outside, not to mention somehow even dryer.

One of the humans walked back up to him, Patton if Remus recalls correctly, with his hands cupped around something small. “Hey there, kiddo! I know you can’t really understand me, but I still wanted to introduce myself to you! I’m Patton and this-” Patton uncups his hands, revealing another like him, only this one has a snakes tail. Remus’s eyes go wide, “-is Janus!”


End file.
